23 of James Bond's Most Memorable Gadgets

Defending Great Britain and the rest of the free world takes more than dashing looks, a quick wit, and specific instructions on how to mix a martini. James Bond has always relied on fantastic technology that lives somewhere in the haze between reality and fiction.

The recent Daniel Craig version of Bond has relied a bit more on fisticuffs, climbing up scaffolding, and brooding in the shower than the Bond of yesteryear. However, the introduction of Ben Wishaw as MI6 quartermaster "Q" in Skyfall may be the turning point for a more gadget-heavy 007 film.

Here, we gathered 007 and MI6's 23 most memorable gadgets. Should your favorite not make the cut, Her Majesty's government has granted you a License to Disagree.

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23. Spike Umbrella, For Your Eyes Only (1981)

The mid-period Bond films starring Roger Moore may have the most gadgets overall, so some of them are very... specific. And whenever Moore's 007 takes a stroll through Q's lab to get a sneak peek at what the wizard of deadly gizmos is up to, the trek is always special. Like the time he saw a killer umbrella.

Should you ever be taking a stroll along the Strand with a nefarious double agent and the clouds are about to burst, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for. Q designed a parasol that grows spikes and snaps shut, dispatching the bugger back to whichever evil Iron Curtain country he came from.

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Bagpipe Flamethrower, The World Is Not Enough (1999)

A-blazing grace! Pierce Brosnan's version of Bond took a walk through Q's lab, too, and saw some strange objects in development. I suppose it is important for the front line of international espionage to always be prepared, but how many practical applications are there for a flamethrower (and machine gun) that can masquerade as bagpipes? In case the usual gang of microfilm-thieving anarchists were planning to attend a fireman's funeral.

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False Fingerprints, Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

If your spying duties dictate going undercover (as Bond's often do) you can't assume that just taking a false name is going to do the trick. When 007 hands over a glass to diamond smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) he takes it as a given that she's got a home fingerprint-recognizing device in her bedroom. (Although back in 1971, wasn't exactly an app—it took up a lot of real estate.) Luckily, Bond's nifty stick-on fingerprints make his story check out. He's fellow smuggler "Peter Franks" and absolutely not a British agent with a license to kill.

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Combination Safecracker-Copying Machine, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

It just wouldn't be polite if we didn't make room on this list for George Lazenby, the only actor to portray James Bond only one time (though On Her Majesty's Secret Service is so long it feels like three movies).

In one scene, Lazenby's 007 has to crack a safe and copy some secret files. Luckily, Q and company devised a handy safecracker with a copying-machine attachment. One wonders what other combination gadgets are out there. A safecracker with an electric can opener, in case the secret material happens to be vacuum sealed?

A portable copier (or, frankly, any copier) was still pretty whiz-bang back in 1969. To show off its utility, Bond doesn't just copy paperwork; he also makes a duplicate of a Playboy Magazine. (Maybe that's why Lazenby wasn't invited back.)

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19. Shark-Inflating Pellet, Live and Let Die (1973)

Two years before the release of Jaws, the brains behind the Bond franchise knew that flesh-eating sharks were going to be big. How big? Q prepped 007 with a special antishark gun that fired big silver pellets of compressed gas to blow the li'l guppies out of the water.

However, you can always count on a James Bond gadget to have multiple applications. At the end of Live and Let Die, Roger Moore and the villain Mr. Big (played by Yaphet Kotto) go mano a mano around and in a giant shark habitat. While the two tussle in the water, Moore stuffs one of the pellets in Kotto's mouth. The ensuing explosion is one of the most striking movie deaths in history.

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18. Cigarette and Toothpaste Bomb, Licence to Kill (1989)

The assassination attempt on Robert Davi's character Sanchez in Licence to Kill is a giant gift to gadget-lovers. First, the high-powered rifle is shaped to look like a large-format camera, and it's smuggled into a party disguised in a gift box. (That's right, a double disguise for this gun!)

To get into position Bond rappels down the side of a building using ropes hidden in his cummerbund—stylish and functional. However, before James can fire that gun he needs to set off an explosion. Carrying C4 and dynamite doesn't work with a tux (even Timothy Dalton couldn't pull that off) but household items like a tube of toothpaste (Dentonite brand) and Lark cigarettes double as explosive and fuse.

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17. Multitouch Table, Quantum of Solace (2008)

The newer Bond films have been a little light on far-fetched gadgets, but Quantum of Solace gives us a sleek, cool take on technology that basically exists now. Judi Dench's M uses a glitch-free multitouch screen the size of an entire table, where documents can be spun around and flung across the table and one can drill down on files just by poking them and scan papers just by placing them on the surface. As someone who still can't get his copier-printer-scanner to work without lighting candles to various saints, I still consider this a moment of wishful fantasy.

"Little Nellie" was actually flown in the film by its designer, Ken Wallis, president of the British Rotocraft Association. His full title is Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis, MBE, DEng, CEng, FRAeS FSETP, Ph.D., RAF (Ret.). I am now going to slowly step away from all of those awesome British titles.

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15. Car Invisibility Cloak, Die Another Day (2002)

Bond has driven an Aston Martin through numerous adventures, but Pierce Brosnan's final spin in a Vanquish in Die Another Day is most memorable for what we don't see. Here's where 007 takes a page out of Wonder Woman's playbook and travels in an invisible vehicle.

The invisible Aston used tiny cameras and screens to essentially "reflect" what the other side was seeing. Looking at the broadside of this automobile, it would appear as if you were looking through it. Until a handsome British agent steps out, that is.

Ten years later Mercedes-Benz made this a kinda-sorta reality in a stunt meant to promote green innovation. It certainly inspired rubbernecking, though perhaps invisible cars should be left to the movies.

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14. Ring Camera, A View to A Kill (1985)

Roger Moore's 007 knows that if you want to surreptitiously investigate a crooked industrialist like Christopher Walken's Max Zorin, you won't get a lot of opportunities to snoop around. So the first step is to get invited to his garden party under the false identity of James St. John Smythe. Once inside the creepy dude's office (and after dodging Grace Jones), Bond uses a ring camera that's tiny even by today's standards. Q's got to figure out a way to muffle that shutter noise, though. James needs a digital ring camera.

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13. Wrist-Mounted Dart Gun, Moonraker (1979)

One could spend an entire evening arguing which comic book superhero is most like James Bond, but this gadget from Moonraker is straight-up Spider-Man.

Moonraker, for many, is the worst Bond film of all time. It's the one where he goes to space and shoots lasers. (I first saw it when I was about 9 years old, though, so I may be incapable of judging it without bias.) But before 007 donned a spacesuit he had some earthbound gadgets to play with. This gun helps Bond break out of the killer-g-forces machine; later it kills the big bad Hugo Drax (Michel Lonsdale) before he is ushered out of an airlock into the inky black abyss of space.

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12. Rolex Submariner, Live and Let Die (1973)

Watches are really big in the mythos of James Bond. In Live and Let Die, the first Roger Moore Bond film, his new Rolex Submariner is shown to be quite handy. When 007 is tied up at the film's conclusion, its face spins to become a miniature saw. Earlier, it gets quite a laugh by showing off its magnetic nature—yes, it can stop a bullet, but it can also work magic with the zipper on the back of a woman's gown.

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11. Broom Radio, Licence to Kill (1989)

We've talked a lot about James Bond in the field, but what about the person who makes all of these devices possible? What about Q?

The Grand Mufti of Gizmos has to go into the wild and surreptitiously help 007 in Licence to Kill. Posing as a dustman, he radios ahead with his high-tech broom once he sees Timothy Dalton's Bond approaching.

It's great fun to see the wonderful Desmond Llewelyn get some time in the field. And it makes you wonder what he could accomplish with a Swiffer.

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10. Omega Seamaster Professional Watch, GoldenEye (1995)

A watch that doubles as a saw is pretty cool. But Pierce Brosnan does Roger Moore one better with a watch that fires a freakin' laser to cut through the floor of a train compartment. I can't even get the correct date to appear on my watch, which may explain my lack of success in breaking into the secret agent field.

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09. Submarine Lotus Esprit, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Should you find yourself in a high-speed chase around the island of Sardinia and drive off a pier in the course of evading your pursuers, you'd better hope you have Bond's Lotus Esprit. The submarine car's wheels tuck in and a periscope pops up; the surface-to-air missiles will take care of any pesky helicopters. Torpedoes and mines included, but a racing stripe is extra.

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08. Robot Dog, A View to a Kill (1985)

A View to a Kill may not be the best Bond film, but it might be the most insane, and not just because it features Christopher Walken and Grace Jones flying over San Francisco in a blimp. It's also because of all the goofy technology. This reaches its peak when Q is shown playing around with a remote-control robot dog.

What are the practical implications of this device, other than letting Woody Allen's dreams from Sleeper come true? Still not quite sure. Q's design is hardly cuddly or fuzzy, but it does allow Bond to spy on Tanya Roberts as she gets out of the shower via closed-circuit camera. So that's something.

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07. Seagull Snorkel Suit, Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger was the first James Bond film to crack the $100 million worldwide box office barrier. Adjusted for inflation its $124 million take is close to a billion dollars today.

But when you first see 007 on screen, you don't even realize it is him. You see a seabird on the water, then, beneath it, Sean Connery with scuba equipment. Even more entertaining, after he grapples over a wall, beats up a guard and stashes some dynamite, he removes his wetsuit to reveal a perfectly crisp white tuxedo.

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06 . Crocodile Vessel, Octopussy (1983)

Roger Moore wasn't about to let Sean Connery have all the fun when it came to animal-based camouflage. In Octopussy he has to escape Maud Adams's floating Indian lair with its cephalopod cult of weapons and jewelry smugglers masquerading as circus performers. Yeah, you'd flee too, even if it meant zooming away in a tiny half-submersible that looked like a crocodile.

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05. Trick Briefcase, From Russia With Love (1963)

The first 007 film, Dr. No, is all right. But the formula really got cooking with the followup, From Russia With Love.

Before Bond travels to Istanbul to smuggle in a Soviet defector (and defy death, and make love), he gets a new briefcase from Q division. In addition to being a sharp-looking accessory, the case contains 20 rounds of ammunition hidden in its side, a rifle with an infrared scope, a throwing knife, and 20 gold sovereigns. It also comes with a defensive mechanism: If opened the wrong way, a talcum-powder tin will blast tear gas in the bad guy's face.

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04. Ghetto Blaster, The Living Daylights (1987)

It's one of my favorite Bond gags. Desmond Llewelyn's Q, definitely getting on in years by the time of The Living Daylights, is escorting Timothy Dalton through the workshop as part of the Bond movie ritual. They hear some extra-tasty guitar licks and synth drumming coming from a far corner. "Ah, good!" Q says. And that's where they see the boom box that really goes boom—by firing off a rocket. "Something we're making for the Americans," Q says. "It's called a ghetto blaster!"

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03. Ericsson Phone, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Stand back! The year is 1997 and James Bond has... a mobile phone!

1997 was about the time I also got my first mobile phone, but that giant gray brick was nothing like this. Bond's cell couldn't tweet or check in, but it could pick locks, scan fingerprints, and act as a stun gun (see pic), also as a remote control for a luxury sedan!

That last one really shattered the device's believability. Swedish Ericsson phones communicating with a German BMW? I need four remotes just to put on a Blu-ray.

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2. Aston Martin DB5, Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965)

Try as Lotus, Audi, and BMW might, Aston Martin will always be Bond's car. The producers of Skyfall are wisely bringing this gorgeous vehicle back to us, but its capabilities remain to be seen.

You could go on at length about just the Bond cars, of course, but 007's best car of all time deserves a spot on this list because it was a rolling gadget factory when it appeared in 1964. The DB5 had: a homing beacon display on the dashboard, a Ben-Hur-esque tire slasher on its rear hubcap, bulletproof windows, a rear spout to spill oil, another to blast a smokescreen, and machine guns up front. Plus, there was an ejector seat for the passenger side if you needed to get rid of unwanted company. Lastly, the license plates automatically rotated to conform to international regulations. Not too shabby.

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01. Bell-Trexton Jetpack, Thunderball (1965)

As iconic as the Aston Martin DB5 may be, when you say James Bond gadget there's one image that zooms into my mind: Sean Connery escaping a French chateau on a jetpack.

It's the best Bond gadget because it comes out of nowhere and is somewhat comical yet still within the realm of possibility. And it makes 007 look really cool. "No well-dressed man should be without one," he says as he lands, then races off before his pursuers can pick their jaws up off the floor and start shooting once more.

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